BBC Radio 2 DJ Steve Wright has left behind over £40,000 to charity and his kids in his will.
The veteran DJ, who presented Steve Wright in the Afternoon and fronted Top of the Pops, passed away aged 69 in February last year.
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The beloved disk jockey left a total of £53,623, which was reduced to £40,623 after costs and taxes.
Of the cash, Wright left tax-free donations worth £15,000 to Cancer Research UK and £10,000 to the British Heart Foundation.
The remainder was split between his children.
His will was signed in 2023 and was approved by the High Court last week.
Most of Wright’s BBC millions from his 40-year career are held in his 22 Media Limited business.
Corporate accounts show the firm held £3.3million in cash in 2023, the last time documents were filed before his death.
In January, his estate was named as a person of significant control in the business, giving his kids control over the company and its funds.
The money from the business incurs less tax than the DJ would have paid if he had passed the money through the probate system.
Steve, who was found dead in his £2million home in Marylebone from a stomach ulcer, left behind a total of £40,623 after tax.
A showbiz source said: “It is typical of Steve that he thought of charities as well as his family.
“He was known for his big heart throughout his career and was always thinking of others.”
Wrighty’s children were born from his marriage to Cyndi Robinson who he wed in 1985 – before but the pair divorced in 1999.
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During a stellar career, Steve also presented the popular Sunday Love Songs mid-morning show on Radio 2.
His last show was a pre-recorded Valentine’s Day edition of Sunday Love Songs.
He had been due to front a new BBC spin-off show as the broadcaster planned to launch four fresh stations before his tragic death.
His family said in a moving statement at the time: “It is with deep sorrow and profound regret that we announce the passing of our beloved Steve Wright.
“In addition to his son, Tom, and daughter, Lucy, Steve leaves behind his brother, Laurence and his father Richard.
“Also, much-loved close friends and colleagues, and millions of devoted radio listeners who had the good fortune and great pleasure of allowing Steve into their daily lives as one of the UK’s most enduring and popular radio personalities.
“As we all grieve, the family requests privacy at this immensely difficult time.”
Steve joined the BBC in the 1970s and spent four decades hosting his beloved afternoon shows.
He also fronted TV programmes for the broadcaster, including Top of the Pops.
In 1976, he briefly left the broadcaster for Thames Valley Radio but returned four years later to present weekend programmes.
The move paid off and his defining show Steve Wright in the Afternoon was launched in 1981.
From bullied schoolboy to BBC legend
By Jane Matthews
STEVE Wright went from being a bullied schoolboy cruelly dubbed ‘Big Nose’ to a BBC radio legend.
Wright was born in Greenwich, London and attended Eastwood High School in Southend-on-Sea, Essex.
It was there that he was cruelly nicknamed Big Nose and Concorde.
His first job after leaving school was in marine insurance but after three years he realised it wasn’t for him.
It was then that Wright left to become a local newspaper reporter.
This led him to BBC, as a record librarian, which then went on to his own shows – and the rest was history.
But in 2022 he announced he was stepping back from his Afternoon show after more than two decades.
He said at the time: “Before we start the show proper, if I may, I’d just like to say thank you ever so much for all the messages that have come in, over the weekend after I announced on Friday on the afternoon that we are leaving the afternoon show.”
The axing saw him take another step towards his Sunday Love Songs show.
The DJ was said to have been “devastated” in 2022, when his hugely popular Steve Wright In The Afternoon show ended after 23 years,
The station lost a million listeners after dropping Steve’s show – reportedly because he was “too old” – and replacing him with Scott Mills.
Although a scheduling shake-up meant Scott Mills took over his afternoon slot, Steve stayed on to present Sunday Love Songs.
Speaking about the shock axing, the DJ said at the time: “Sometimes people don’t want you”.
He continued: “I’ve been offered loads of stuff at the BBC and I’m staying at Radio 2. What it actually means for me is rather than working six days a week, I’ll be working maybe two and a half days a week.”
The day before he died, he poignantly signed off by saying: “I’m back for more Love Songs next Sunday … ta-ra then.”
In his personal life, Steve was married to US-born Cindi Robinson until they divorced in 1999.
He later revealed he had struggled to find love since due to his demanding radio schedule.
Most recently, Steve was made an MBE in the New Year Honours for services to radio.
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